Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
March 9, 2003 - W0310

Imagine if every single one of us became all Jesus wants us to be? That would be the most powerful influence leading others to the Kingdom of God. However, there are all kinds of distractions in the world that keep us from being godly men and women. Those distractions are the gods that steal our identities.

All of us have a tendency to compare ourselves to one another. Thatís not necessarily a bad thing as long as you use that to motivate you and not dominate you. Use it to strengthen your strengths, so that you can be all that God wants you to be. If you let it dominate you, youíll waste years of your life being something or someone you were not created to be. Youíll always find someone who has more and someone who has less whether itís money, career, family, or heartaches.

Q1:      What specific areas do you compare yourself to others?

The Bible tells us that comparing will steal your identity sooner or later, if you let it dominate you. Ultimately, it will make you dissatisfied with who you really are. For example, if youíre in the season of motherhood, allow yourself to be a mom and not strive to be a driven businesswoman at the same time. Or if youíre in the season of being a student, keep to the books instead of wasting your money on having fun. ìLet us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us backÖand let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor.î (Heb. 12:1-2 TLB)

We each have a specific race set before us depending on what season of our lives weíre in, but so many times we want to be someone else and we miss our allotted season. Later, we look back at all the consequences of having our identities stolen. You see the fallout of your marriage, your children, and the things that shouldíve been right but turned out wrong.

Q2:      Who are you supposed to be in this season of your life?

We get distracted all the time and run into walls, so itís very important that we keep our eyes on Jesus and He will lead us safely throughout whatever season we are in. Someone once said, ìIf the devil canít get you to sin, heíll keep you distracted.î Itís very important to recognize these identity-stealing gods early on. There are three gods of the world that will keep you distractedÖ

THREE GODS THAT STEAL YOUR IDENTITY

1.     THE GOD OF JEALOUSY.

The god of jealousy is one of the most cruel and crafty gods loose in the world today. ìJealousy is more dangerous and cruel than angerî (Pr. 27:4). Anger alone has broken up families, destroyed relationships, caused murders, and all kinds of consequences. Just imagine the monstrosities that jealousy could unleash if it is more dangerous than anger.

Jealousy rears its ugly head when comparisons dominate our lives. We want another manís wife, another personís career, someone elseís house, or even another familyís children! Jealousy is also seen among churches of different denominations. It causes conflicts, rumors, and bad attitudes. Eventually, the church will lose its identity if we allow jealousy to dominate it. We need them all because the Bible states that the Body of Christówhich is all the Christians in the worldóbelieve Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, is the Church. We are just many members of the same Body of Christ. Take for example, how a car engine works. An engine is made of many parts, but can only work properly if it works together as a team. Only then will our Father look down and smile on the unified church.

In the Bible, God warns us of this monster god because jealousy will be lurking in places that we wouldnít expect. ìÖThe Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was locatedî (Ez. 8:3). The god of jealousy set up shop outside the north gate of the church waiting for a sale. We as Godís people are not immune from jealousy. Itís very easy for us to become jealous of someone elseís blessings and we lose our identity.

There is a way to get rid of jealousy. The antidote for jealousy is to applaud others. When something good happens to someone else, applaud him or her instead of coveting what they have. If you canít applaud someoneís blessings, then jealousy will dominate you. Itís like trying out for the lead role in a play, but someone else gets the part. Instead of wishing bad fortune on them, congratulate and encourage that person.

Q3: Think of a moment that you were jealous of someone. How could you applaud them for their blessings?

Remember that the god of jealousy stays very close to the church so identify it quickly. If you donít, it will infect our faith and relationships with anger and depression. It becomes dangerous because it goes hand in hand with the second identity-stealing godÖ

2.     THE GOD OF DECEPTION.

Youíll be thrown into the deception of living a lie and you wonít be able to see out. The Greek word for deception is ìdecoy,î something that looks like the real thing, but isnít. The reason? Itís trying to draw you close enough to get hit. The Bible says that the devil is the father of lies. The devil puts out decoys so that youíll follow them until youíre in his range of fire. ìFor there will be many false Messiahs and false prophets who will do wonderful miracles that would deceive, if possible, even Godís own childrenî (Mark 13:22 TLB).

The devil will get you to think thatís what you want but itís a lie. Then we start to abandon everything we know and we become enslaved by the god of deception. People will actually give up their families and friends because theyíre so blinded by a deception: ìThis is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says. ëIíve done nothing wrongíî (Pr. 30:20 NIV).

Q4:      Has anything enslaved you so much that you gave up the people closest to you? How did you get free?

The god of deception is the most difficult to break free from. Thereís a way to overcome this addiction. The antidote is to recognize it early on. When you start to have thoughts that dominate you, nail it right then and there. A great way to kill the god of deception is to do your daily devotions. Daily devotions weed out the decoys that the devil sets up, so that we can recognize them. ìDo not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it saysî (Jas. 1:22 NIV). Apply what God is sharing with you from your daily devotions. Read His Word, know His Word, and live His Word. If we donít then weíll live inconsistently and this will set us up to be vulnerable to the third identity-stealing godÖ

3.     THE GOD OF DESIRE.

We live in a society that worships desire. We desire (or have cravings) for all kinds of thingsófood, shopping, sex, etc. Sometimes we desire so much that we mold and create a false god to justify our desires and we say, ìBut ëgodí told me to do it.î The law of our society gives us freedom and consent to do almost anything we want. Just look at todayís TV programs. We have the ever-popular ìrealityî shows with absolutely no boundaries and of course the programs that glamorize violence and sex. In ìrealityî itís abnormal and dysfunctional. Nowadays, being abnormal is normal and being normal is abnormal. If you have a happy marriage, youíre abnormal and if youíre living an alternative lifestyle thatís become normal. Whatís going on?

Be careful that you donít abandon the non-negotiable of Godís Word. Live by the higher laws of God. ìTherefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatryî (Col. 3:5). Donít follow the gods of the world because theyíll steal your identity, your future, and what God wants you to be.

To avoid the god of desire, parents need to be more aware and in control of what their children are being exposed to on a daily basis. Thatís why we have television stations like K38, ìThe Spirit of Alohaî with clean, quality programs for everyone. Another thing to do is to expose yourself to righteousness and all that is good by finding godly friends or mentors. Join a small Bible study or life group to build these friendships.

Q5:      What things do you desire and what are your antidotes for these?

Basically, throughout this whole series of ìNo Other Gods,î weíve been touching upon the Ten Commandments. The last commandment is ìYou must not burn with desire for another manís wife, nor envy him for his home, land, servants, oxen, donkeys, nor anything else he ownsî (Deu. 5:21 TLB). God is saying that you shouldnít covet others. Stick to Godís Word for guidance and strength against these false gods.

Always remember that god has made every single one of us in a very unique way. Encourage yourself and others to be all that God wants us to be, know the Word of God through your daily devotions, and run the race that God wants us to and not the worldís race.

 MEMORY VERSE: ìLet us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us backÖand let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor.î (Heb. 12:1-2 TLB)

Mahalo to Christy Itamoto for your Faith-FULLness!!!J